Do We Have to Settle?

The second presidential debate of 2012 has past and, thus, voters have a clearer portrait of what President Obama himself stated are “fundamentally different visions about how we move our country forward,” between he and Governor Mitt Romney.

Rev. C.L. Bryant, creator of the independent film “Runaway Slave” states, “Even though President Obama was more animated in this debate, it was still clear that Gov. Romney would be a better commander in chief. His world view will restore American swagger.”

Indeed this debate featured a more passionate President Obama. Unfortunately, passion and emotion do not constitute real solutions.

President Obama, when pressed about the loss of U.S. jobs overseas, stated, “Some jobs are not coming back because they are low wage, low skills jobs. I want high wage, high skills jobs.”

I could not help but wonder if economically marginalized Americans were paying attention. President Obama has no intention of helping them access entry level jobs that can help them develop skills and, ultimately, qualify for higher wage jobs.

He threw poor Americans under the bus, just as he did Black Americans and women in the workforce.

The candidates were asked about how to address discrimination in the workforce, particularly against women.

The president, while alleging to support stronger regulations to provide a level playing field for women, was less than honest about what his policies actually do.

The Davis Bacon Act, Prevailing Wages, and Union-Only Project Labor Agreements are all policies which harshly discriminate against Blacks and women in the workforce. President Obama has consistently supported these policies, which has cost Americans over 160,000 jobs, mostly in urban communities.

Gov. Mitt Romney has made it a part of his platform to fight for equality in the workforce, level the playing field for minorities, and eliminate policies that prevent fair competition and access to entry level jobs for all Americans.

President Obama talked of manipulating the U.S. Tax Code to arbitrarily penalize businesses he doesn’t like by removing deductions and exclusions for them, while promoting businesses he does like by increasing deductions, exclusions and subsidies for them.

He believes government should be able to pick winners and losers in business, which usually amounts to the American workers losing jobs.

President Obama was defiant about reducing the U.S. corporate tax rate, which is now the highest rate in the industrial world. This is the primary reason corporations move jobs overseas where it is more affordable to do business.Gov. Romney offered a vision that gets rid of some of the deductions, exclusions and subsidies for all businesses, and decreases the U.S. corporate rate to a competitive 25 percent.

Gov. Romney wants to level the playing field of the global market by holding trading partners responsible for unjust practices, and removes impediments to job creation by flattening the tax code. This will create job opportunities for countless Americans. The urban community is crying out for these opportunities.

In effect, Gov. Romney wants to strengthen our economy by promoting a business-friendly atmosphere in America which gives incentives to all businesses and opportunities for all Americans to get back to work.

Horace Cooper, adjunct fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research states, “Mr. Obama did what he does best — extemporize and feign concern. He claims to believe in the free enterprise system but his entire record as president belies him. Trickle down government isn’t the half of his problem. He fundamentally believes that the government is the great tool to aid and assist the American people. It isn’t and his feckless efforts to pursue more government, even with overwhelming evidence that these policies don’t work, have been particularly harmful, especially to Blacks.”

The resident raised the issue of Gov. Romney not caring about 47 percent of the American people. How ironic and hypocritical. There are just over 22.4 million households using food stamps in America today. That amounts to around 15 percent of the American population.During the administration of President Obama, the total amount of Americans on food stamps has increased by 44 percent since the president took office in January 2009. This is not to place a stigma on Americans who have applied for food stamps. We should not instinctively and ambiguously issue attacks on Americans who receive food stamps. We don’t know everyone’s story. However, we do know the story of failed liberal policies.

As a result of President Obama’s failed policies, underemployment and chronic unemployment are worse than what we have seen since the Great Depression. And no community has been hurt more than urban communities where unemployment for Black Americans is 14.2 percent. For Black youth, it is a mind boggling 36.7 percent.

President Obama, when discussing violence and gun control (issues of particular interest to crime ridden urban communities) emphasized increasing regulation on various types of assault weapons, many of which are already illegal under the current US law. He believes government interference with the right to bear arms can somehow regulate human behavior.

Governor Romney offered a different idea. He expressed that he wants to enforce the laws we have already. More importantly, he expressed that we can reduce gun violence by focusing on the authority and responsibility of parents.

He believes that gun violence is a symptom of a greater disease: broken homes and a culture where our values are often misplaced. He doesn’t believe government can fix that. Parents and private citizens can and must do so.

Gov. Romney summed it up best with his closing remarks:

“We don’t have to settle for what we’re going through. We don’t have to settle for gasoline at four bucks. We don’t have to settle for unemployment at a chronically high level. We don’t have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps. We don’t have to settle for 50 percent of kids coming out of college not able to get work. We don’t have to settle for 23 million people struggling to find a good job.”

I don’t intend to settle, fellow Americans. Do you?

Editor’s Note: Stacy Swimp is president of the Frederick Douglass Society, a public policy organization that promotes free market economic solutions. He is also a spokesperson for Project 21, the nation’s largest network of Black conservatives. He can reached at stacyswimp@stacyswimp.com.